Omar stresses on expeditious completion of power projects

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Omar Ayub Khan on Wednesday emphasized on expeditious completion of power projects financed by different countries and donors agencies.

The Minister chaired the meeting of National Coordination Committee on Foreign-Funded Projects (NCC-FFP) on Energy Sector at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said a press release issued by Ministry of Economic Affairs.

During the meeting, the Committee discussed 14 ongoing projects of energy sector including power generation, transmission and distribution amounting to $ 3.4 billion funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), World Bank (WB), France, Germany, Japan and United States of America (USA).

The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Power and Petroleum, Tabish Gauhar, Federal Secretary EAD, Ali Raza Bhutta, Secretary Power Division and senior officials of Planning Commission, NTDC and DISCOs.

The Minister for Economic Affairs stated that the government is taking various measures to develop a more reliable and efficient power generation, transmission and distribution system in the country.

Furthermore, the government is committed to unleash immense potential of renewable energy resources including solar, wind and hydel to provide affordable and environment-friendly electricity.

SAPM Tabish Gauhar, shared the progress made by Power Division and reiterated their commitment to resolve the bottlenecks and ensure smooth and timely implementation of the development projects.

Power Division apprised that the long-standing land acquisition issue of CASA-1000 Transmission Line at Nowshera is successfully resolved and the contractor has now been mobilized on the project site.

Similarly, significant progress on land acquisition for Dasu Transmission Line at Islamabad West is achieved.

It was also informed that NTDC is working on five (5) Grid Stations at Mirpur Khas, Zhob, Lahore North, Jauharabad and Maira under ADB financing and the progress on these projects is now picking up.

The Minister directed the relevant authorities to identify the critical path and set timelines for expeditious implementation of the development projects.

He also emphasized on adopting latest technologies and GIS for monitoring of development projects in the country.

The Minister appreciated the efforts of Power Division and line departments for improved implementation of foreign-funded projects in energy sector.